CUSTOMS AND SUPERSTITIONS OF THE MAORI. 779 
To sleep frequently in the daytime is an evilomen. It is known 
as a whaka-waikokomuka. To prepare fernroot for food during the 
night is also unlucky ; and to pass before a priest is a serious and 
dangerous thing. If people of a village collect in the marae 
(court-yard, open space) and sing a puha or derisive song without 
due reason, that act is a taputapu-ariki and betokens trouble to 
come. To camp on a battle-field after a fight is unlucky, and is 
termed a whakaupa. To hear the chirping of a moko-ta lizard is 
also an aitua of fell meaning. The evil omen known as /rirangt 
is a spirit voice heard singing without, when at night the people 
are within their houses. That termed mzti aitua is a dryness of 
the throat which assails warriors when in battle. The adverse 
omen known as a korapa also pertains to war. It is when a man 
does not keep time in the war dance, or does not leap so high as 
his comrades. As also when a challenger, in defying the opposing 
war party, looks behind him towards his own people. Again, if 
in battle a warrior spares the life of the first foeman vanquished 
by him that is a pahunw (an evil omen), for he will surely be 
assailed by Z'u-mata-rehurehu (Tu, “the dim-eyed;” Tu, is god of 
war) which means that both his sight and courage will be seriously 
affected, and the sight of the enemy will cause him to tremble. 
It is also a pahunu to eat of the food left by the first-born of a 
family. The only cure for this dire affliction is for the unlucky 
person to seek out the first-born female of a family and get her to 
step over his body, which act breaks up the pahunu. 
Kotwa.—If in travelling to a village I meet a person who 
informs me that a relative of mine is dead at that place, and 
should I turn back at once, that is a kotwa and an evil omen 
for me. 
Whakarapa.—This is when a member of a plundering party 
stands idly by while his companions are busy loading themselves 
with booty ; or when, in travelling, one refuses to stop at a village 
when invited. 
Kopare.—Should I chance, while carrying food, to meet a friend, 
and should I pass on without speaking lest he ask me for some of 
my food, that is a kopare, an evil omen for me, on account of my 
churlishness. 
Tawhanga-rua.—In cooking birds in a native oven (hangi or 
umu) if, when the oven is opened, the birds are not quite cooked, 
do not on any account cook them a second time (tawhanga-rua) 
for that would cause all birds to desert the adjacent forest. This 
is a law of Tane, the god of forests and birds, for these are his 
children. 
Rua koha or rua kanapu.—This is summer lightning seen playing 
about the summits of mountains during fine weather. It is a good 
